Ken Jennings Reveals When 'Jeopardy!' Will Return to Normal
The host confirmed that 'Jeopardy!' will have new contestants again soon.
Jeopardy! has been doing tournament episodes for the past few months, due to the WGA strike halting episodes with new contestants, but now, host Ken Jennings has revealed when the show will return to normal. Speaking to USA Today ahead of the 2024 Tournament of Champions — which began on Friday, Feb. 23 — Jennings addressed the situation by saying, "We know there have been a lot of tournaments."
"We are sympathetic with tournament overload, but this is one we're really excited about," he continued. "For the first time this year we're going to do a Jeopardy! invitational tournament where we bring back some favorite contestants from the past years, in some cases the past decades. And one winner of that competition will advance to Jeopardy! Masters."
Jennings then assured fans, "It will be early spring for the first time in many, many months, we will finally have new players back on." Since the strike caused delays in new episodes, Jeopardy! has been having some past contestants battle it out for a spot in the Tournament of Champions.
"This year, because of the strike, we had a series of second-chance competitions to allow people who had lost their very first Jeopardy! game a shot at redemption, and it's been amazing," Jennings explained. "Some of them turn out to be incredibly strong players who just had a rough Game 1. It's tough to just go from Jeopardy! on your couch to Jeopardy! in the studio, and not everybody who could be an all-timer wins that first game. I almost lost my first game."
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions airs on weekdays. Check your local listings or time and channel.